Net Neutrality explained

Dear Readers,

Current affairs forms an important component of several competitive exams such as the UPSC Civil Services Examination, SSC CGL, Bank PO & PSU entrance tests, etc. Therefore, understanding those terms/concepts which are in the news becomes critical for aspirants of most competitive exams. In our attempt to make your preparation easier and to help you score better, we at PaGaLGuY bring you brief articles on trending phenomenon, terms, concepts, etc.

In this article, we will try to understand the concept of Net Neutrality, its significance and the reason it was in the news.

Net Neutrality – the concept

• Net Neutrality is the idea that the Internet Service Provider (ISP) should enable access to all content, applications, etc. without favouring any one source or blocking any products or websites.

• In doing this, the service providers remain neutral (as they provide all content without discriminating against or over-riding/ignoring or overcharging/undercharging for any content) while providing access to content, applications, websites, etc. thereby preserving the consumers’ right to an open internet.

• This idea of net neutrality is derived from the way telephones worked in 20th century. The principle, in case of a telephone line, was that you could dial any number and connect to it without constraint; the operator would neither block access to any number nor deliberately delay connection to any particular number unless the law made it mandatory to do so.

• These rules/principles were later extended to Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Therefore, as the telephone company had no say in the number you contacted or the message you gave, similarly, ISPs were expected to not interfere with the content that you accessed or posted on the web.

Net Neutrality in India

• Some countries, such as Chile, Netherlands, etc. have laws that enforce net neutrality but in India there are no formal rules. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) ‘Unified Access Service License’ promotes net neutrality but it is not enforceable by law.

• The debate on Net Neutrality in India kicked off after Bharti Airtel Ltd. announced that users will have to pay extra for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. VoIP services are services which allow users to make free calls through the internet. Such services include Skype, WhatsApp, Line and Viber, etc. The premise of the launch of the VoIP services was the paper released By TRAI on 27th March, titled, ‘Regulatory Framework for Over-the-top (OTT) Services’.

•  ‘Airtel Zero’, was an open market platform that would allow internet users to access certain mobile applications/websites for free while the data charges for the same will be paid for by the companies that own those applications/websites. This would mean that a host of other websites/apps, who have not tied-up with the mobile company, would be accessible to users only if the user paid an extra amount. Thus, this was an example of discriminatory pricing, where users could access some content on the net for free but needed to pay to access other content.                                          
• Subsequently, Facebook’s ‘Internet Org’ initiative, in a tie- up with Reliance Communication came in news for it aimed to provide free access to 31 websites (Facebook, Facebook messanger, wikipedia, BBC, Bing search, OLX, Aaj Tak, IBN Live among others) through an app giving those websites a discriminatory advantage over other apps/websites which would have to be paid for by users.

• After the announcement of Airtel Zero, Bharati Airtel faced stiff opposition and eventually withdrew its plan till final decision in this regard was discussed with  the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

• Civil society groups and members of parliament claimed that the report released by TRAI was too technically framed and was blatantly in support of the Telecom and Internet Service Providers. As a result, on 7th April 2015, a Member of the Parliament from Odisha, Tathagata Satpathy, wrote an open letter to TRAI in support of net neutrality. The Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of net neutrality in the Parliament and accused the government of trying to give away internet space to corporates. Naveen Patnaik, Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Ajay Maken, Tarun Vijay and other Members of Parliament came out in support of Net Neutrality.

• A number of internet users and civil society groups were mobilised through savetheinternet.in online campaign and came out in support of net neutrality. Millions of e-mails were sent to TRAI urging to safeguard the people’s right to an open internet. Lakhs of other internet users voiced their support for Net Neutrality in their independent capacity .                                  

• The deadline to get public responses on the
  Consultation Paper was 24th April, 2015.

  By then, TRAI received over a million
  responses from supporters of Net Neutrality. Subsequently, it released all of the
  e-mails (and lists of names and email ids) in the public domain. Some sections
  of the media described this as a privacy nightmare. They claimed that such
  details could be misused by spammers and cyber criminals and that those people
  whose details had been released could even face harassment.

  In response, a group called AnonOpsIndia took
  down the trai.gov.in website through a distributed denial of service or DDoS
  attack.

  TRAI
  denied any such hacking attempt and stressed that the website was down due to
  technical glitches. 

• The Department of Telecom (DoT) six member committee, headed by A K Bhargava, – set up to formulate a policy on net neutrality and assess its advantages and disadvantages – is expected to publish its findings towards the end of May.

• Latest reports suggest that the Government would disallow controversial zero rating plans in the final policy. A senior telecom official in the Department of Telecom said, ‘Zero rating plans that involve commercial arrangements at the back-end violate the idea of net neutrality as they seem to provide discriminatory access to certain apps.”

Why is Net Neutrality important

• At present, the internet offers a level playing field to all websites, applications and content by not interfering with users’ ability to access any content, thereby preserving the right to communicate freely online.

• In the absence of Net Neutrality, ISPs would be able to prioritise and favour those websites which are willing to pay for the preferential treatment. ISPs would even be able to discriminate against others, including their competitors and those who hold different/opposite political opinions.

• Internet users may have to pay extra for certain websites which do not have a tie-up with their ISP.

• An open internet serves as a platform for communities other than those that have a voice in the mainstream media. Thus, an open internet is necessary to allow for alternate opinions, stories and experiences to be shared with the world.

• Lastly, an open internet gives an opportunity for scores of small entrepreneurs or start-ups to begin their business with the bare minimum of resources. Thus, an open internet plays a vital role in enabling economic growth. In the absence of net neutrality, economic growth could take a hit.